“Akron’s prestigious School of Law has garnered yet another attention-grabbing distinction: it ranked first in Ohio in the percentage of students who passed the Ohio Bar Examination. In July, 87.4 percent of Akron Law’s graduating class of 120 passed the Bar, a necessary step to receive certification to become a practicing lawyer.”
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Akron’s prestigious School of Law has garnered yet another attention-grabbing distinction: it ranked first in Ohio in the percentage of students who passed the Ohio Bar Examination.

In July, 87.4 percent of Akron Law’s graduating class of 120 passed the Bar, a necessary step to receive certification to become a practicing lawyer. Akron also boasted an impressive 92 percent passing rate for students who took the infamous examination for the first time.

Every Bar score counts in the race to be the best in the nation. If just five students would have gotten different scores, the percentage would have been skewed.

The new statistic just adds to the school’s already impressive list of recent accomplishments. Akron’s award-winning trial team is currently ranked first in the United States, and its unique Intellectual Property program was ranked at fifth in the nation.

Since 1921, UA’s School of Law has steadily improved, but most of its growth occurred in the past decade.

According to Martin Belsky, Akron’s new Dean of the School of Law, the quality of Akron’s law students (in terms of LSAT score and GPA) has increased dramatically in the past decade.

In addition, Akron has helped students by giving students unprecedented access to faculty who provide individualized counseling on the process of taking the exam. UA also financed a class that taught the proper way to study and take the Bar.

Next spring, the law school plans to build on the idea by offering a course solely devoted to the test.

Akron’s law program has grown in many other ways, as well. Years ago, 70 percent of law students were recruited locally. Now, roughly half have come from beyond Ohio’s borders.

The School of Law’s racial diversity has also grown. Now about 20 percent of the school’s students are black.

Belsky hopes that the Bar passing rates will help Akron in its quest to become a top 10 law school.

It’s just increasing our profile, he said. We are a top 75 law school in everything but visibility.

Visibility is of the utmost importance to Akron’s School of Law as it continues to establish itself as a premier program and to attract the brightest pre-law students.

To deliver the message of the Akron Advantage to the nation’s top students, the School of Law has sent faculty to give lectures across the nation and encouraged alumni to publicly give credit to Akron as they reach success.

UA has also scheduled the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to speak at the School of Law in 2011, a feat which many schools could simply not attain.

The University of Akron has turned more heads than ever lately, and the School of Law has proved to be a major contributing factor.

Belsky believes that we are becoming a regional school of national impact.

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